One can adjust the starting point of one's EfK campaign fowards or backwards to suit the style of play and "difficulty level" of those early encounters. The situation at the beginning of module is meant to be dynamic, with some locales being really fluid and others somewhat static. As always, it's a starting point. There are lots of ways that you can modify things to accomodate different GM'ing and playing styles.
In one PbP (Stalemate War, on RPG.net), the GM had the players start off in a town near Kalisz that was under heavy assault, including a Hind helo- it might sound munchkinist but it was really well done. The players fought it out for a day or two (game time) before negotiating an escape with a local commander keen on taking the town without further losses. IIRC, a couple of players joined the unit after being captured and escaping.
In my current PbP, I shifted the action to Belarus and set the campaign in the year 2030. I keep the basic premises and use the module gazzetteer to plot out local strongpoints and such but the geographical and temporal shift were meant to keep the module fresh. IMHO, it's working out pretty well.
|